I recently read an interesting article on ‘The Captain Of The Ship’. I was impressed with the way author conveyed the attributes of successful captain.
“Do you steer by the light of the stars or the lights of each passing ship?
How good a seafarer are you? Are you the captain of your destiny or is your ship adrift in the sea of life? Have you carefully charted your course or are you aimlessly following others? No wind can help the ship that is bound for nowhere. And at the end of your voyage, you won’t be asked about the storms you encountered, but whether or not you reached your destination. If you’re unclear about where your ship is heading, don’t panic; there’s still time to refer to the map in the Captain’s Quarters (your mind). To navigate your way, you will need the help of your shipmates: acceptance, accountability, aspiration, attitude, aim, action, and achievement.”
There’s no point in blaming our circumstances or others for our lack of success because blame doesn’t advance us. We cannot control others or events; we can only control our own thoughts and actions. So it is time to assume ACCOUNTABILITY, to take responsibility for our own success. You are the person who has to decide — Whether you’ll lead or will linger behind. Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar or just be contented to stay where you are.
Aspiration and attitude
Archie Danielson has put it perfectly – “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”
ASPIRATION, or ambition, is the desire to improve your life. Aspiration is like taking a deep breath and optimistically jumping into the adventure of life. Aspiration stokes the fire of enthusiasm. When you want to succeed, you get excited about preparing for success. Acceptance, accountability, aspiration, enthusiasm, and optimism fuse to form the ATTITUDE of success.
Aim, action, achievement.
Maxwell Maltz wrote, “People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to ‘look forward to’ — to work for and hope for.” Now that you are fired up to embark on your journey to success, you are ready to set your AIM.
Once you have set your goal, it is time to break it into small tasks that you can easily do and schedule. These tasks, or ACTION steps are your keys to success, your road map to your goal.
Finally, as you work on your plan for success, continually monitor your progress, analyze your obstacles, and adjust your plan so even if you change your route, you will remain on target. The result ? ACHIEVEMENT, or accomplishment !
People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do, so let’s start planning our new life today. Look out world, here ‘I’ come !
